Would it be practical to add a measured amount of water to a bag of down, perhaps just enough to dampen it so it clumps together, factor in the weight of the water, and, continue to proportion the distribution of the wet down to the sections when filling a project. Then, letting the item dry after completion?

On my one down quilt so far I used karo baffels, and the shell has a small zipper to add down, and then zip it up. It was easy and no down loss, because I could get both the bag, and my arms into the quilt shell, pull the bag open, and slowly shake the down out of the bag. But, I’m making more complex items, and will have to measure and fill in the conventional way.

Many thanks to TH staff for their exceptional effort to help me resolve a unrelated problem with my bank to pay TH for an order.

Relative to down, water is so much denser that I think small deviations in distribution would make consistency of fill difficult.  Occasionally people will wet down to fill items, but it is usually done to known quantities of down as a way to ease handling.  But if you think this will work, I don’t see any reason not to try it other than uneven fill which can be remedied after the fact if required.

It is not difficult to measure dry down.  If you don’t already have one, get a gram scale.  Your down will be packaged enclosed in a bag, so when you’re ready to work cut open the bag just enough to get your hand into it.  Place the bag on the scale and note the weight, draw out small portions of down in your fist (or other method of your choosing) and again note the weight, and then determine the amount of down transferred by the difference in the two weight measurements.  You will be skilled at this method in short order and by the end of your project will have calibrated a fistful with a known weight of down which makes transfers very quick.

Thank you for the kind words, and I am happy to have been of assistance to you.

ok, that makes sense, now to buy a scale!